Len Fehskens replies to me:

>>With the youth bound and the old man Abraham lifting his knife, an angel
>>calls out to him from heaven, telling him to spare the youth and sacrifce
>>a ram caught in a nearby thicket instead.  Presumably God is willing.  But
>>He is unable.
>
>I have never interpreted this passage (which, by the way, is breathtakingly
>moving) as Britten ascribing to God the unwillingness or inability to
>forego the sacrifice.  It is clearly (to me at least) Abraham's (i.e.,
>mankind's) choice.

Absolutely right Len.  I agree it is Abraham's choice.  But that opens the
question:  What kind of God allows such atrocities to occur?

If, by definition, He is not cruel, then He must be either weak and unable
to adequately influence the affairs of men.  Or, He is aware that there is
a salvation ahead that revokes the death and suffering on earth.  Great art
and music can be created to explore either of these alternatives.  I merely
suggested what I think Britten's take on this is.

Thanks for sharpening my thinking.

Ed